Vampire Huntress Legend series
Vampire Huntress Legend by L.A. Banks . Genres and Sub-Genres Urban Fantasy, Horror–Fantasy Series Description or Overview ✥ Damali Richards is a successful hip-hop artist by day, but come nightfall, she hunts vampires and demon-predators. Most people believe these creatures are only myth or fantasy—but Damali and her Guardian team know otherwise. Damali is the Neteru, a vampire huntress whose mission is to vanquish evil from the world. In this series of contemporary fantasy and horror, a battle is brewing, and increasingly brutal supernatural murders are happening--and only Damali can stop the evil. ~ Goodreads ✥ A vampire series by L. A. Banks following Damali Richards, the ultimate vampire huntress, and her team as they fight...well, vampires and other supernatural beings, which are in this series demons from Hell that mainly attack people with darkness in their hearts. This job becomes more difficult when Carlos Rivera, Damali's love interest, is turned into a vampire because of his lifestyle as a drug dealer. The twelve-book series uses religious and mythological lore as the Neteru team fights demons while becoming physically and emotionally stronger, whereas Carlos works as a Reverse Mole for Damali's team. Afterwards, the series shifts from fighting random vampires to fighting Satan's wife Lilith, who is setting up the Apocalypse while tending to the Antichrist, who will rule the world it not stopped. ~ Literature/Vampire Huntress Legend - Television Tropes & Idioms Lead's Species * Neteru — Human type of angel Primary Supe * Vampires What Sets it Apart * Heroine of color * potent themes * mythologies from around the world Narrative Type and Narrators *Third person narrative, multiple perspective—predominantly Damali Richards and Carlos Rivera. Themes * Good versus evil. * The power of choice, and it's never too late to choose to fight for what's right, to make the choice to do good—to choose the Light. * Armageddon: The forces of evil and good face off until it culminates into one huge battle to end the world as we know it * Vampire and demon hunting * Angels and demons, Heaven and Hell. * Hope, Faith, Love, forgiveness, redemption * The essential wisdoms of mythologies and religions throughout history and around the world overlap and distill into some of the same truths. * Love is an all-powerful force and can defeat even the most virulent evil. * Sometimes it's necessary to keep remaking the choice of Light over Dark. The choice isn't just made it once and it's done—it need ot be made over and over again as mny times as it takes. * People of all different races, ethnicities and religions finding common ground, working together to fight the same fight for the Light. Books in Series Vampire Huntress Legend series: # Minion (2003) # The Awakening (2004) # The Hunted (2004) # The Bitten (2005) # The Forbidden (2005) # The Damned (2006) # The Forsaken (2006) # The Wicked (2007) # The Cursed (2007) # The Darkness (2008) # The Shadows (2008) # The Thirteenth (2009) Shorts, Anthologies and Guides *3.5. "Make It Last Forever" in Stroke of Midnight (2004) (Tara) *7.5. "Ride the Night Wind" in Love at First Bite (2006) (Jose Ciponte) Companion Series, Spinoffs, Sequels or Prequels * Dawn and Darkness (2010) ~ Graphic novel, Hardcover, 176 pages Other Series by Author Crimson Moon series: #Bad Blood (2008) #Bite the Bullet (2008) #Undead On Arrival (2009) #Cursed to Death (2009) #Never Cry Werewolf (2010) #Left for Undead (2010) World Building Settings and Places #Minion: L.a., New Orleans, Netem, Heaven, Jupiter #The Awakening: Los Angeles, Dania, New Orleans, Netem, Heaven #The Hunted: Amazon, Brazil, Netem, Heaven, Rio, South America, States, North America, Bahia, Hell, Caribbean, Manaus, Africa #The Bitten: #The Forbidden: Amazon, Vatican, Ethiopia, Manila, Spain, Heaven, Rome, Sydney, Europe, London #The Damned: Tibet, China, Naksong, Arizona, Heaven, Houston, Philly, Potala, Philadelphia, Hell, Phi Ily, Bonpo, Nepal, Garden (of Eden) #The Forsaken: Heaven, Zehiradangra, Arizona, Tibet, Chile #The Wicked: Heaven, Dananu, Mexico City, Cuernavaca, Arizona, Popocatepetl, Morelos, Nevada, Taxco, Belize #The Cursed: Masada, Jerusalem, Penthesileia, Morales, Amazon, San Diego, Old City, Heaven, Middle East, Mexico, Tibet #The Darkness: San Diego, Brooklyn, Queens, Harlem, New York, Heaven, Middle East, Patmos, Tijuana, Atlanta #The Shadows: Detroit, Philly, Heaven, White House, San Diego, Canada, Washington Monument, Philadelphia, D.C., Chicago, United States, New York, Greece, Toronto, South America, Africa, West Coast, Mexico, #The Thirteenth: Jerusalem, Temple Mount, Heaven, D.C., Bermuda, Rock, Atlanta, Caribbean, Detroit, North America, New York, Ethiopia, Miami, Supernatural Elements LIST: vampires, Neteru, Neteru Guardians, demons, Dark Lord, Amanthra demons, weres, Neteru council, Heaven, Hell, Covenant, myth, underworld, Apocalypse, Dark Lord, Jupiter, Vampire Council, master vampire, Valkyrie, mythology, numerology, Wicca, Keys to the Seals, living blood of Christ: opens sixth seal, Revelations, Final War, Armageddon, Dark Realm, monks, were-demons, seventh level of Hell, magic, Chairman, Vampire Council, Unnamed One, Lucifer, Cain, son of Eve, human scientists, secret experiments, Ark of the Covenant, dimension, dark witch and warlock, angelic powers, Anti-Christ, battle at Masada, daylight bite, day-walkers, angel hybrid, pale horse of the apocalypse, sixth Biblical seal, Mythologies & Religions: * Christian * Jewish * Egyptian * African * American Indian * Asian: Hindu & buddhism * Aztec * Greek (only touched on) * Norse (Valkyrie) Glossary: * 'Groups & Organizations': *'The Neteru Guardians': spiritual warriors with a Divine mission to protect The Neteru, and fight the forces of evil. * Warriors of Light squad: * Neteru Council of Queens and Kings: * Covenant: Religous mentors to the Neteru squad (see below) * Neteru Council: Guides for both Neterus—former Neterus in Heaven World 'The Legend: After the Fall' After the fall of the dark angel, after man and woman were deceived and ousted from Paradise, the legions of evil beset humanity with all manner of strife and hardship to sway their choice. Earth became The Gray Zone of choice, where free will could manifest for good or evil, and a soul could be compromised in this fragile environment that cast shadows of darkness amid the light. The angels on High wept as they watched the fate of humankind struggle against demonic forces, mere flesh and bones and the hope of earthbound spirits crushed by plagues, pestilence, famines, disasters, violence… no mercy. The cry for help that went up to Heaven from the peoples of the earth was heard. From the twelve scattered tribes, twelve Guardian Councils were mission-anointed and made up of honorable, courageous men and women of all positive faiths and all races, working as a united front, quietly moving behind the scenes, each battling evil in their own corner of the globe. The balance could not be easily tipped; their fight was vigilant. But just as the forces of evil had human helpers to reinforce the negative spheres of soul-killing influence, the forces of good had The Guardians… those that held the line no matter what challenges befell them. They would not allow The Light to be extinguished. And from those twelve armies came The Covenant—one from each Guardian Council, twelve members in all, the bravest of the brave, the wisest of the wise, the keepers of the faith and the knowledge between worlds. Only The Covenant could foretell the coming of The Neteru, although they would never know whether this super-being mortal would come as male or female. All they could do was to prepare a special Neteru Guardian Team as they searched for the prophesied infant. Such an assignment is the highest honor bestowed upon a Guardian Council, whose mighty task was to ensure that the once every thousand year visitation of a Balance Swaying Force of Light, a Neteru, would be secreted away from evil until old enough to fight… but first, before they could protect this mortal, they would have to find the baby—before evil could destroy it. The Legend: Vampire Huntress 'The Covenant' Twelve Holy, seasoned, individuals from the original twelve tribes of the land, from every corner of the earth, representing the widespread positive faiths, are called within a human lifetime to take up the torch, to hold the light, to stand watch and keep vigil in wait for the coming of The Neteru—the huntress or hunter. They have been standing watch from the beginning of time, and in this era, a Neteru has come, a young woman, who spans two millennia… and her womb can host either good or evil, but the choice is ultimately hers. As her ripening to faith and flesh dawns, she must be guided, protected, and then must learn to stand on her own. Free Will, The Choice, is mission critical to all The Warriors of Light. ~ Coveneant: Vampire Huntress Legend 'The Neteru Guardians' Anointed with the Divine mission to protect The Neteru, this elite category of spiritual warriors were chosen to surround their charge with heightened extrasensory awareness, superior physical and inner strength, unmatched courage, keen battle strategy, and unparalleled skill. These strengths not only protect, but also reinforce, The Neteru’s learning curve and developmental life preparation for his/her own perilous mission. 'The Dark Realms': Six realms of darkness mirror the six realms of light, with the seventh depth hosting the power source of all that is evil… just as the seventh level Above hosts the Ultimate Power Source of The Universe—The Almighty. Sins create soul weight, dragging it down the multiple caverns within The Pit. Hope, Faith, Love, forgiveness, a fervent request for redemption, remove the weight, uplifts the spirit, and allows the soul to soar to blend in with other spirits of The Light. This is why the choices made in The Gray Zone are so critical. No angel in Heaven, not one Warrior of Light, or one spirit of lightness ever wants to lose a soul to the weight of unredeemed sin. Thus, the battle that is waged, one soul at a time, is mighty. ~ The Dark Realms: Vampire Huntress Legend 'Council of the Neteru': Mirror image of the all-male Vampire Council of Elders introduced in previous books)– “as above, so below”. This all-female council has strong women images we recognize from history, including Eve (the first) and Joan of Arc. We also see old friends and loves return; as well as, say good-bye to a beloved character. ~ Dusky Literati 'Protagonist': ✥ There is one woman who is all that stands between us and the eternal night. Here is an account of her legend. ✬ All Damali Richards ever wanted to do was create music and bring it to the people. Now she is a Spoken Word artist and the top act for Warriors of Light Records. But come nightfall, she hunts vampires and demons—predators that people tend to dismiss as myth or fantasy. But Damali and her Guardian team cannot afford such delusions, especially now, when a group of rogue vampires have been killing the artists of Warriors of Light and their rival, Blood Music. ~ Vampire Huntress Legend Series ~ Horror Books. co Book Cover Summaries ✤ BOOK ONE - Minion (2003): All Damali Richards ever wanted to do was create music and bring it to the people. Now she is a Spoken Word artist and the top act for Warriors of Light Records. But come nightfall, she hunts vampires and demons—predators that people tend to dismiss as myth or fantasy. But Damali and her Guardian team cannot afford such delusions, especially now, when a group of rogue vampires have been killing the artists of Warriors of Light and their rival, Blood Music. Strange attacks have also erupted within the club drug-trafficking network and drawn the attention of the police. These killings are a bit out of the ordinary, even for vampires. No neat puncture marks in the neck to show where the life's blood has been sucked from the body. These bodies have been mutilated beyond recognition, indicating a blood lust and thirst for destruction that surpasses any Damali has encountered before. Damali soon discovers that behind these brutal murders is the most powerful vampire she has ever met, and this seductive beast is coming for her next. But his unholy intentions have also drawn the focus of other hellish dark forces. Soon Damali finds herself being pulled deeper into the vast and horrifying vampire world. ~ Minion—FF ✤ BOOK TWO - The Awakening (2004): A battle is brewing in the underworld, and at the center of it all is Damali Richards, spoken word artist and vampire huntress. But she is not just any huntress; she is the millennium Neteru, a woman so powerful that the vampire world is about to start a war—one that threatens to spread onto her streets-in order to possess her... Fallon Nuit, a rogue vampire who is one of the most powerful Damali has ever encountered, has allied himself with the deadly Amanthra demons in order to claim her. But the Vampire Council has plans for her as well. And now an unlikely variable has entered the equation: an ex-lover turned master vampire with an agenda of his own. Damali must risk trusting him once more if they are to survive. ~ Goodreads | The Awakening (Vampire Huntress Legend, #2) by L.A. Banks ✤ BOOK THREE - The Hunted (2004): Each millennium brings a new Neteru, a vampire huntress whose mission is to vanquish evil from the world. This millennium's savior has come in the form of Damali Richards, a hip-hop diva with the heart of a warrior and an attitude to match. But a war in Hell has cost Damali both her powers and her past love, Carlos Rivera. Still, Damali can't let her grief stand in her way. Several gruesome deaths, starting with an American research team, have come to Damali's attention in Brazil. The nature of the deaths leads Damali to believe that the killer is anything but human... Unknown to Damali, the life of Master Vampire Carlos Rivera was saved by a most unlikely group: a band of monks also dedicated to fighting the Dark Realm. In exchange, they want Carlos to help stop the inhuman murders plaguing Brazil—and they will use Damali as bait if they have to. Reunited, Damali and Carlos give in to the erotic passion they have fought for so long. Together, they are a powerful force. But Damali has made a terrifying enemy who won't rest until the beautiful Neteru is dead... ~ Goodreads | The Hunted (Vampire Huntress Legend, #3) by L.A. Banks ✤ BOOK FOUR - The Bitten (2005): The vampire civil war has been averted, deadly were-demons have been beaten back and now Damali Richards and Carlos Rivera (now a Council level vampire) will finally have the chance to settle in and explore their deeper, sexier love. But Carlos and Damali should know by now that there is no rest for the saviors of the known world. One of the four topside Master vampires has stolen one of the Keys—the li'ving blood of Christ'—that opens the sixth seal as foretold in Revelations. He who possesses the Key and the Seal can decide the outcome of the Final War, a.k.a. Armageddon. With a vampire in possession of the Key, the balance between the Light and the Dark have been thrown off and even Damali is deeply effected. She is now sporting a pair of fangs. In order to retrieve the Key, Carlos and Damali are quickly thrust into a web of vampire politics and intrigue. And when Carlos's secret drug, Oblivion, finds its way into the hands of the enemies, even the seventh level of Hell comes calling. ~ Goodreads | The Bitten (Vampire Huntress Legend, #4) by L.A. Banks ✤ BOOK FIVE - The Forbidden (2005): The Body of a Goddess...with the '''Heart of Hell' itself''. The devil is a dead-beat dad and his consort Lilith couldn't care less. A stolen embryo stirs in Lilith's womb and a plan pulses through her veins: To unleash her child from the gates of hell—as soon as she destroys the only two vampire hunters who can possibly stop her... Damali Richards is a woman-child in a world running with blood, depravity and demons. Turned by her lover, Carlos Rivera, and brought back again, Damali clings to the one measure of purity that was handed down to her through generations of the wise, gifted and strong. Now, through the power of magic, through the ache of desire and the touch of her lover, Damali is on a journey from the streets of Philadelphia to the ancient earth of Africa. With a small army, with Carlos and with her own mad skills, she might just save the world from the demon seductress who wants her and her faith obliterated—before Armageddon begins... ~ Goodreads | The Forbidden (Vampire Huntress Legend, #5) by L.A. Banks ✤ BOOK SIX - The Damned (2006): Damali Richards knows all about a blood rush. The kind that happened when she first went skin-to-skin with former vampire Carlos Rivera. Or the kind that happened on the streets of Philadelphia, when her crew took on the devil's own. Now, Damali, Carlos, and the Guardian team are recovering in the Arizona desert, trying to hold it all together and find out how much love, and how much war, they still need to make…until the demon consort Lilith changes everything. The Damned are seeping out from below, and a new contagion is spreading simply by touch. For Damali and Carlos, time is running out. With Armageddon near, the ultimate truths lie strewn from a shaken underworld to the pristine mountains of Tibet, where the two lovers will approach a pinnacle of power—and the scintillating, shocking secret of salvation. ~ Goodreads | The Damned (Vampire Huntress Legend, #6) by L.A. Banks ✤ BOOK SEVEN - The Forsaken (2006): The Chairman of the Vampire Council is dead, and Lilith, the consort of the Unnamed One, and the Unnamed One himself are out for revenge against Damali Richards, the Vampire Huntress, and her lover, Carlos Rivera. A ruthless and carefully planned strategy—one that not even Damali will anticipate—has been developed. There is only one entity who can best Damali, send Carlos packing, and put the Guardian team at mortal risk. This powerful being was once banished into a forsaken land and possesses everything that would bring a Neteru to his or her knees. This time the fight is not so clear-cut, and it is not only Damali's soul in the balance but her body and heart as well. ~ Goodreads | The Forsaken (Vampire Huntress Legend, #7) by L.A. Banks ✤ BOOK EIGHT - The Wicked (2007): Damali and Carlos have finally tied the knot, but there is no happily ever after on the horizon. Cain, the son of Eve and the new chairman of the Vampire Council is amassing an army of creatures like no one has ever seen before. But while a band of human scientists are conducting secret experiments they open the dimension that holds Cain and he is released into the human world, bigger and badder than ever. Her family slaughtered, Damali heads for hell to serve justice and faces off with a nemisis the likes of which she has never encountered. Carlos doesn't take his wife's disappearance lightly and races against time to get Damali back... only to learn that his wife might be pregnant. The question: is the child his or the Chairman's?~ Goodreads | The Cursed (Vampire Huntress Legend, #9) by L.A. Banks ✤ BOOK NINE - The Cursed (2007): The Chairman has been killed and now Lilith, Satan's Consort sits on the vampire throne as the Vampire Council’s new Chairwoman. She raises all the dark covens—calling every major dark witch and warlock to do her bidding. Her goal is to distract the team members, while the unborn heir to the Dark Realms awaits his own birth. All Lilith needs now is Damali's newly discovered angelic powers to make that come to past. That will allow her evil progeny to walk through the veil between worlds and take his throne as the true Anti-Christ. Damali and her crew race to stop Lilith. However, raising not only the dark covens, but all vampires that had not been slain by Damali, puts the world out of balance and kicks off the Armageddon. ~ Goodreads | The Darkness (Vampire Huntress Legend, #10) by L.A. Banks ✤ BOOK TEN - The Darkness (2008): After the battle at Masada, the Neteru team returns to San Diego believing forty-thousand demons had been eradicated and that Lilith's spawn has been killed. But somehow the treacherous little creature got away. Just as had been prophesized at the dawn of the Armageddon, the anti-Christ has been born and will soon rise to power. Rewarded for her creation, Lilith is given the daylight bite and power to make Councilmen day-walkers. Having Fallon Nuit and Sebastian able to withstand sunlight is a huge problem, especially when they are adding new master vampires at recordbreaking levels. Meanwhile the dark realms are healing and adding to what had previously been wiped out—feeding off the dark energy of the newly created anti-christ who is only waiting to emerge. ~ Goodreads | The Shadows (Vampire Huntress Legend, #11) by L.A. Banks ✤ BOOK ELEVEN - The Shadows (2008): The Dark Realms are taking cover after an angel onslaught from On High. The Antichrist has been injured and the f'ourth biblical seal' has been broken. Yonnie and Val, '''a strange combination of a '''daywalker and an angel hybrid, have joined Damali and Carlos's team. And the two new Council-level vamps, Elizabeth Bathory and Lucrezia Borgia, are still in recovery from their last mission. Seething in the underworld is the Unnamed One, so furious that he's bringing the battle topside, unleashing a full-frontal assault on mankind for the offenses committed by the Neteru team. This time, the Guardian team must address serious human casualties and collateral damage while Nuit rebuilds Blood Music from a mere record label into a media brainwashing empire for the Dark Lord. ~ Goodreads | The Thirteenth (Vampire Huntress Legend, #12) by L.A. Banks ✤ BOOK TWELVE - The Thirteenth (2009): The final story in the now cult favorite Vampire Huntress series. The entire Neteru Guardian team is on the run, having now been labeled as America's most-wanted terrorists following the gruesome demon battle that felled the Washington Monument and crashed the front doors of the White House. The Anti-Christ is positioned for emergence, the powers of darkness have released the pale horse of the apocalypse, and half the Neteru team is pregnant. Plagues from hell that ravage the country are being cited as stemming from bio-terrorism. The nation is under martial law. The Neterus and their team are underground. If things weren't bad enough the Dark Realm breaks the sixth Biblical seal, which plunges the world into perpetual darkness…and irrevocably into the Armageddon. ~ Goodreads | The Thirteenth (Vampire Huntress Legend, #12) by L.A. Banks Category:Series